Seized Marshall Islands-Flagged Tanker Located Off Iran's Qeshm Island

An online tracking service has identified the ship as the St. Nikolas, which was previously called the Suez Rajan.

The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker seized by Iran in the Gulf of Oman on January 11 has been located east of Iran's Qeshm Island, monitoring service TankerTrackers.com said in a post on the X, formerly Twitter.

Iran seized the St. Nikolas, loaded with Iraqi crude destined for Turkey, in retaliation for the confiscation last year of the same vessel and its Iranian oil cargo by the United States, Iranian state media reported.

The semiofficial Fars news agency quoted by Reuters cited an Iranian Navy statement saying that the St. Nikolas tanker was en route to Iranian ports.

The United States on January 11 condemned Iran's seizure of the tanker off the coast of Oman and called for the immediate release of the ship and its crew.

"This unlawful seizure of a commercial vessel is just the latest behavior by Iran or enabled by Iran aimed at disrupting international commerce," State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters at a briefing. The U.S. will continue to consult with regional partners about appropriate steps to hold Iran accountable, he added.

The seizure of the Marshall Islands-flagged St. Nikolas coincided with weeks of attacks by Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen who have targeted Red Sea shipping routes.

Iranian state media said earlier that the ship was seized close to the Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran under an Iranian judicial order.

"The Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran seized an American oil tanker in the waters of the Gulf of Oman in accordance with a court order," Iran's official IRNA news agency said. It was unclear why the tanker was described as American.

The seizure was in retaliation for a "violation committed by the Suez Rajan ship...and the theft of Iranian oil by the United States," IRNA said.

TankerTrackers said the St. Nikolas was previously seized by the United States because it was breaking international sanctions by transporting Iranian oil. The cargo was eventually offloaded before the ship, which was called Suez Rajan at the time, was released.

In July 2023, Iran threatened retaliation over the U.S. seizure of the Suez Rajan, heightening tensions between Washington and Tehran.

The St. Nikolas was reportedly carrying Iraqi oil from the port of Basra in Iraq to an oil refinery in Turkey when it was seized. It has a crew of 18 Filipino nationals and one Greek national, according to the tanker's Greece-based management company, Empire Navigation.

The U.K.-based maritime security company Ambrey said the vessel was boarded by about six "unauthorized" people who were armed and wearing black military uniforms. Ambrey said the group covered the ship's cameras, and communications with the vessel have since been lost.

Iran has been reeling from crippling U.S. sanctions targeting Iran's oil exports restored after the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from the Iran nuclear deal.

Tehran has been amassing a "dark fleet" of oil tankers to circumvent the sanctions and offload contraband Iranian oil that helps keep Iran's economy afloat.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters